It wasn’t an easy night if you were a goaltender at the Dort Financial Center on Friday night.
In a game that saw the teams combine for 14 goals in regulation time, the Soo Greyhounds beat the Flint Firebirds 8-7 in a shootout in Ontario Hockey League action between a pair of West Division rivals.
It took shootout goals by Cole MacKay and Tye Kartye to give the Greyhounds the victory.
The game had added meaning with the two clubs battling along with the Windsor Spitfires for top spot in the West Division. The three teams are separated by five points following Friday’s result.
Greyhounds coach John Dean said the win was about character.
“The way our guys responded to adversity tonight, the different situations that occurred over the game, if there was ever a doubt after that Sarnia game about what character this team had, that got solved pretty quick here tonight,” Dean said.
Dean said he felt the team “played a darn good game.”
“It could have been easy for our guys to look at the adversity, the refs didn’t help us at all,” Dean added. “We carried most of the play and for some reason we can’t grab a call here tonight and the game management was very poor as far as I’m concerned.”
Veteran forward Kalvyn Watson said the energy level of the Greyhounds is what won them the game.
“How everybody was just so happy for everybody about every aspect like guys blocking shots,” Watson said. “The bench had so much energy. That was the biggest thing was just the energy.”
Watson called it “a huge win.”
“That was an amazing game for the team,” added Kartye. “I’m proud of the boys.”
Kartye called it “a game like no other that I’ve played in before.”
“That was a big game for us,” Kartye also said. “Having it be like that was even weirder. We were super fired up.”
Flint coach Ted Dent called it “a crazy game.”
“We had opportunities to win the game in overtime, but their goaltender came up with some saves there,” Dent added, speaking with the Firebirds Hockey Network.
The teams traded goals in the opening minute to get the scoring started early.
Just 10 seconds into the game, Flint forward Ethan Keppen took a pass from Brennan Othmann and beat Greyhounds starter Samuel Ivanov to open the scoring.
Greyhounds defenceman Ryan O’Rourke tied the game 37 seconds later as he beat Flint starter Ian Michelone glove side with a shot from the high to tie the game.
Gavin Hayes gave the Firebirds a 2-1 lead at 1:53 when he jumped on a loose puck in the slot and beat Ivanov high glove side. Hayes corralled the loose puck after Amadeus Lombardi centred the puck and it found its way into open ice.
Watson gave the Greyhounds the lead for the first time in the game with 2:46 to go in the opening period, batting in a chance from the slot after the puck popped up into the air in traffic.
Bryce McConnell-Barker made it 4-2 Greyhounds 80 seconds into the second period when he redirected a pass at the top of the crease from Robert Calisti in the right circle past Michelone.
Hayes cut the Greyhounds lead back down to one with his second goal of the night at 3:06 when he took a pass from Lombardi while cutting past a Greyhounds player and tucked the puck 5-hole on Ivanov.
Brennan Othmann tied the game at four at 7:06 when he beat Ivanov with a sharp-angle shot from the bottom of the left faceoff circle high short side, ending the night for the rookie Sault netminder.
With 4:47 to go in the period and the Firebirds on the power play, defenceman Dmitry Kuzmin skated into the slot and beat Tucker Tynan with a knuckler to make it 5-4 Flint.
The Greyhounds tied the game early in the third when McConnell-Barker got his second of the night, beating Michelone from the slot glove side after grabbing a loose puck in traffic at 3:06
Rory Kerins gave the Greyhounds a 6-5 lead 34 later when he took a breakaway pass from Calisti deep in the Sault zone and beat Michelone stick side, ending the night for the Flint netminder.
Bertuzzi made it 7-6 with 5:08 to go in regulation when he put the puck on net on the power play from in close on a broken play and it found its way past Tynan.
The Greyhounds tied the game on the power play with 1:36 to go when Justin Cloutier redirected a pass at the top of the crease from Kerins on the left wing past Nathaniel Day on the power play.
Dean had high praise for his team after the win when asked about getting key goals at important moments in the game.
“For our guys to score those timely goals was good, but it was a product of a lot of opportunities and a lot of chances,” Dean said.
Watson had five points for the Greyhounds with a goal and four assists.
Kerins had a goal and a pair of assists while O’Rourke had one of each.
Calisti assisted on a pair of goals for the Sault.
Ivanov finished the night stopping nine of 13 shots before being pulled after the fourth Flint goal and just over 17 minutes of action. Tynan made 24 saves the rest of the way before stopping both Flint shooters in the shootout.
“Tucker came in and made a big save as soon as he came in and we didn’t have a great overtime and he was fantastic in overtime,” Dean said. “He was clearly the difference and that’s what we need.”
Michelone made 33 saves for the Firebirds before being pulled after the sixth Greyhounds goal. Day made 12 saves for Flint in relief.
In addition to a pair of goals, Hayes assisted on four goals for the Firebirds while Othmann had a goal and two assists.
Lombardi, Samuel Assinewai, and Riley Piercey assisted on a pair of goals each for Flint.
The Greyhounds wrap up the road trip on Saturday night in Saginaw against the Spirit.
Pending that result, the team could gain some ground in the division as the Firebirds are scheduled to host the Windsor Spitfires in the first of a home-and-home set between the two clubs this weekend.
The Greyhounds will take a record of 32-16-6-1 into Saturday’s contest and sit one point ahead of the Spitfires for second in the division, and four points behind Flint.
After meeting Saturday night in Flint, the Firebirds and Spitfires are scheduled to play on Sunday afternoon in Windsor.
With Friday’s result, Flint’s record stands at 35-16-1-4.
The Spitfires were idle on Friday night.
Rookie forward Tyler Savard will miss Saturday’s game in Saginaw as he serves the second of an automatic two-game suspension after getting into a fight on Wednesday night in Sarnia against the Sting. The fight was his fourth of the season and carries an automatic suspension with it.
The Firebirds played Friday’s game minus goaltender Luke Cavallin due to a suspension as well. Cavallin will miss Saturday’s game against Windsor before returning to the lineup on Sunday.